The present invention is in the field of insert-type attachment structures for glass ornaments and bulbs, in particular for the xe2x80x9cgazing ballxe2x80x9d type used on upright supports such as rotating sprinklers.
Tall, upright, sculpture-like sprinklers have been around for many years and are becoming very popular. These sprinklers typically comprise a tube-fashioned, artistically-shaped sprinkler head rotatably mounted on the top of a vertical standpipe of several feet in length, which in turn is secured to the ground and supplied with water from a hose. Water from the standpipe flows into appropriate tubing on the sprinkler head, and exits from a pattern of spray holes which causes the sprinkler head to rotate on top of the standpipe.
A common style of sprinkler head uses a circular outer water tube perforated with spray holes in a pattern designed to throw an aesthetically pleasing and rotation-causing spray of water. The area circumscribed by the water tubing is often filled with decorative ornamentation, for example a blown glass gazing ball or bulb of brightly colored glass.
A difficulty lies in connecting the glass piece to the sprinkler head, and further in securing an adapter appropriate for the connection to the glass piece.
The present invention is an apparatus and method for securing a support mounting adapter to the base or stem of a glass bulb with a removable mechanical connection. The adapter comprises a plug portion adapted to fit into and seat or seal against the typically cylindrical opening or hollow stem formed at what will be called the xe2x80x9cbasexe2x80x9d of the bulb during a glass blowing or similar manufacturing process. The adapter further includes a body extending from the plug portion and sized and shaped to mate with a socket or similar mounting connection. A bolt passes through the adapter, inserted from the lower mounting end with the bolt head stopped and accessible on the lower end of the adapter, and the threaded end of the bolt extending through and protruding from the plug portion into the hollow glass bulb interior. The threaded end of the bolt is initially partway threaded through a flexible retaining member, for example in the shape of a relatively thick, flexible rubber strip having a width greater than the opening in the base of the bulb. The threaded end of the bolt is secured to the flexible retaining piece by a threaded passage or nut on the retaining piece.
The adapter assembly is preferably pre-assembled by inserting the bolt through the adapter, and by initially threading an end portion of the bolt into the nut on the retaining strip. One end of the flexible retaining strip is first inserted endwise into the base of the bulb, and then the adapter is rotated into alignment with the base of the bulb so that the other end of the flexible retaining strip is folded and pushed through. With the flexible retaining strip seated on the inside surface of the base of the bulb, the bolt head is rotated to work the threaded shank through the nut on the retaining strip inside the bulb, thereby drawing the adapter into engagement with the opening at the base of the bulb. The length and thickness of the flexible retaining piece prevents it from being drawn back through the opening.
In a preferred form the adapter is a cylindrical plastic piece, whose lower end is adapted to fit into a tubular socket so that the attached bulb is mounted to whatever upright support is provided, such as a sprinkler head.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon further reading of the specification in light of the accompanying drawings.